Coma victim’s attacker is now convicted of murder three years after death

A thug jailed for putting a father of one in a coma has been convicted of his murder three years on.

In what is believed to be a legal first, Adam Cross was retried for murder after originally being convicted of the grievous bodily harm of Joseph Starzacher.

Mr Starzacher was left in a vegetative state but died in August 2010 from pneumonia owing to his immobility.

Medical experts concluded the 37-year-old’s death was linked to the head injury he received years earlier.

It is believed to be the first time someone convicted of an assault has then be successfully retried for murder following the death of the victim. Mr Starzacher’s family said: ‘Joseph was a kind, gentle and caring person who abhorred violence. We have lost a lovely young man in the prime of his life.

‘We have had to endure seeing Joseph locked in his body unable to communicate for three years watching his deterioration that eventually led to his death in 2010.

‘This has been deeply distressing for us all but especially for his daughter Megan who was the apple of his eye.’

Winchester crown court heard how the victim had been on a night out with friends when Cross, 35, began shouting abuse at him in a takeaway in Salisbury. Outside, he punched him to the floor and then kicked him in the head rendering him unconscious.

Cross was jailed in 2008 for the attack. He will be sentenced for the murder at a later date.

Speaking after the court case, Det Sgt Pete Ritson, said: ‘Joseph effectively lost his life that night. He never recovered and spent the next three years in a specialist nursing home with 24-hour medical care.’